“I Think They Can Make A Run”
September 8th, 2026
The Bucs’ go-to rookies on defense.
More than 83 percent of Bucs fans look at their 2026 team and see a winner. The most popular vote was 10 wins for Tampa Bay in Joe’s poll yesterday.
Expectations are sky high, as they should be.
The Bucs play in a trash division and every sportsbook known to Joe has Tampa Bay as its favorite to win the NFC South landfill.
The NFL game is still very much about winning in the trenches and having strong quarterback play. And unless Joe is missing something, the Bucs have the most NFC South talent in the trenches and at QB. That’s why so many fans graded the Bucs’ roster with a “B” or better.
But winning the division is nowhere near enough. Winning in the postseason is what matters to a fanbase that was riding a five-season streak of reaching the playoffs before last season’s heinous collapse. The Bucs were a whopping 6-4 in those playoff games.
Just reaching the playoffs isn’t good enough. That’s not where the franchise is in its trajectory. The just-happy-to-be-there mentality was flushed down the toilet with major assists to Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield, and yes, to Bucco Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles.
This isn’t 2016.
Joe heard Green Light podcast host Chris Long, the two-time Super Bowl winner defensive end, detail why he picks the Bucs to win the NFC South and then jump back on the microphone to make sure his co-hosts know he thinks the Bucs are more than just the landfill leaders.
“And I actually think their ceiling is a little bit higher … I think they can make a run in the NFC,” Long said.
That’s what it’s come to for Bucs optimists — clarifying that they believe Tampa Bay can do more than win a dreadful division. In most NFL years, it’s just assumed that every division winner is capable of winning a playoff game.
Are the Bucs good enough to make a run? That’s unclear. But Joe thinks it’s reasonable to say the Bucs will be in need of new direction if this roster can’t win a playoff game.
September 8th, 2026 at 9:40 am
Just depends on health I think.
The talent is there.
Is Bowles too much of a players coach?
We shall see.
September 8th, 2026 at 9:41 am
That’s what Raheem Mostert said was McDaniels biggest problem in Miami.
September 8th, 2026 at 9:45 am
Gonna keep shouting this from the mountain tops– “By ANY metric, NFC East was worse than NFC SOUTH”
September 8th, 2026 at 9:50 am
A playoff game is likely to be against the 2nd place team from the NFC West
September 8th, 2026 at 10:08 am
Hopium on demand. We have some junkies in this blog.
Past is prologue. Historical evidence makes reality clear as day.
Bowles is terrible at both his jobs.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:09 am
Joe … ‘Are the Bucs good enough to make a run? That’s unclear.’
Much-needed article Joe. And ‘Are the Bucs good enough to make a run?’ is THE QUESTION. We all already know what will happen if the Bucs don’t win the NFC South. Heads will roll, no doubt. And they should.
Chances are though that the Bucs aren’t quite good enough to earn a BYE on the first playoff game though, so we’ll have to once again win FOUR in a row to take the Super Bowl. And those 4 wins would be against the best of the best.
In the NFC that means whooping the LA Rams, a team we’ve struggled against while Todd’s been here. Of course, we’ll also have to contend with the Eagles, probably the Packers and/or Bears, and oh ya, the Seahawks will probably make another go of it.
And of course surviving all that means you then get to play the best-of-the-best from the AFC. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the winner over there be either the Jaguars or the Broncos. Two very different teams IMO, but they both looked very good last season. Still, no doubt in my mind, the Bucs will be contenders when the end of the season rolls around.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:15 am
The team Licht built last year was awful. No depth on OL. DL was weak. LVD was a fossil. SVD was blind. And slow. The DBs were a combination of bored, hurt, unaware and frightened.
So Licht responds by alienating the QB and best DL. He adds a rookie at DB. He signs retreads on the DL and at LB.
Why does anyone have irrational exuberance over this team?
If history repeats itself, they will suffer at least a 3 game losing streak at some point and lose expected win games.
This is make it or break it for Bowles. Licht probably gets a free pass by blaming Bowles to save his skin.
Playoffs is minimum.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:19 am
…..to the nearest restroom….
September 8th, 2026 at 10:20 am
I don’t see where the 10 wins come from?
Todd is not good against top tier QB’s and that is not a good sign when his defense plays the following QBs this year
Burrow
Lamar
Stafford
Goff
Love
Herbert
Dak
That’s 7 Automatic L’s with this sad pass defense. Since 2019 here are Todd’s rankings vs the pass
2019 30th
2020 21st
2021 21st
2022 9th
2023 29th
2024 29th
2025 27th
QB’s carve up this scheme on the regular, and he makes zero adjustments. Even with a edge rusher in 2019 who had nearly 20 sacks, the pass defense was bad. Anyone thinking that they are gonna win 10 games is CRAZY
September 8th, 2026 at 10:30 am
The teams making playoff runs are often the most healthy at the end of the season. Let’s see if luck and new S&C leadership help the Bucs this year. Also, what kind of rookie wall will hit Bain, Hurst, Scott, and Trotter?
September 8th, 2026 at 10:32 am
Ahem … that “whopping” 6-4 record was 5-1 with Brady Arians Gronk and 1-3 with Bowles – there are only 5 players (plus Nacho) left from the 2020 SB squad –
yeah the defense is good with promising rookies – the line and receivers are good but no Gronk @ TE or Bijan Robinson @ RB – it’s all on 6 – he’ll either carry the team or he won’t
September 8th, 2026 at 10:34 am
If they do not win the division….will Bowles be RUN out of town? I will predict after the Bengal game. Plus we have the Stainks at the end of the season.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:36 am
That’s the definition of a losing bet.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:39 am
8 and 9 or 9 and 8, because the head coach is incapable of being anything but mediocre.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:46 am
Can’t wait to get the season started and one by one watching most of the trolls and haters go poooof.
These jokers will spew records like 7-10 all off-season but when push comes to shove by asking them to put their money where their mouth is, they clam up. All bark and no bite with most of these haters.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:50 am
Will 9 wins keep Bowles around? That’s the question. 8 wins, no. 10 wins, yes.
I vote – absolutely not, even if the means a playoff appearance (but loss). It’s just good enough.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:51 am
“It’s just NOT good enough.”
September 8th, 2026 at 10:52 am
@Fanofdabucs
Please advise how we’re supposed to wager with you???
I put a lot of money on Bucs games last year and cleaned up.
Betting against the Swiss cheese Scheme is a guaranteed winner.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Roster = B
Coaching = F
Under .500 season!
September 8th, 2026 at 10:53 am
Need to be consistent to make a run. One of the many questions this team needs to answer on the field before we can even say they’ll be better than last year, let alone making the postseason and going on a run. Reach and maintain a high level of play first, then we can talk about all the stuff this team will still need to collectively work their butts off for.
September 8th, 2026 at 10:58 am
It’s really funny, as fans our math isn’t mathing. We say we will win ten games but have little confidence in our couch. Hum is Bowles holding this team back from a 14 game winning team. I don’t know but that is what being a fan is, every team a chance to win the Super Bowl, before the seasons starts, right up until the point they don’t.
September 8th, 2026 at 11:09 am
This Head Coach has a proven track record of 500% in the NFL
Here are various ways to say that, and none of them speak of excellence
= AVERAGE
= Middle of the pack
=MEDIOCRE
So if the leopard does not change his spots, that means another 500 or near finish coming again.
Come on Todd, change those spots, let the fans have more Sundays of enjoyment versus only half the time.
Dili Dili for a spotless Bowles
GO BUCS!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!
September 8th, 2026 at 11:14 am
The fact that they play in the NFC South landfill is irrelevant. What is more relevant when judging the quality of a team is overall strength of schedule and final winning percentage. One can say though that because the competition within the division is weak, winning the division is easier which makes getting into the playoffs easier.
September 8th, 2026 at 11:15 am
Todd Bowles is the ceiling of this team. He sits somewhere around the WC and divisional round.
ModHairKen… Licht did a lot this offseason. A lot of swings and misses last year, this year looks promising from a roster standpoint.
3 new ILB, 2 new OLB (3 if counting Walker), 3 new DL, a ST captain S, 2 more DBs, 2 backup OL in Skule and Shrauth, a promising WR prospect and new backup QBs. That’s a lot of roster work and potential upgrades.
September 8th, 2026 at 11:16 am
No one saying anything about the Giants?? NFC sleeper along with Tampa Bay
September 8th, 2026 at 11:34 am
So the majority of readers don’t have confidence in bowels as a coach (56%) yet an overwhelming majority of the readers think the Bucs are a 9+ win team (82%) or a 10+ win team (60%). You would think low confidence in the coach would indicate more pessimism in the projected win total. I myself have “just good enough to get you beat” confidence in Bowels, until he wins a playoff game again, then I might go back to confident.
Trivia question for all the old Buc fans out there. What ex Buc QB and what HOF coach are attributed to the quote above?
September 8th, 2026 at 11:35 am
Todd as a head coach of the Bucs is 3-8 vs Burrow, Dak, Goff, Lamar and the Rams
Unless this team goes 5-1 or better in the division they have no shot at double digit wins
September 8th, 2026 at 11:40 am
Easton Stick is now the 4th Quarterback on the roster
September 8th, 2026 at 11:41 am
You can bet Bucs plus 3.5. They are the underdog.
September 8th, 2026 at 12:06 pm
George,
What would you like to bet on?
I’m taking all bets on anyone who believes the Bucs will lose 10 games or more.
If there is a wager we agree on, we can figure out the logistics rather easily.
September 8th, 2026 at 12:12 pm
Made a lot of $$$ betting against the Bucs and Todd Blows last year.
September 8th, 2026 at 12:14 pm
FanofBucs: lemme know if you need extra funding in the unlikely event multiple people lining up to take your bet.
Let’s see who wants to put their money where their mouth is.
September 8th, 2026 at 12:38 pm
Capeaceiskaput Says:
“just good enough to get you beat” confidence in Bowels”
“Trivia question for all the old Buc fans out there. What ex Buc QB and what HOF coach are attributed to the quote above?
THAT would be Bill Walsh referencing Steve DeBerg!
September 8th, 2026 at 1:24 pm
The Bucs have enough talent to make a deep playoff run. They also have enough history to make me keep the bourbon within arm’s reach.
September 8th, 2026 at 1:31 pm
While I agree that winning the division isn’t enough, I don’t think it’s a given that the team has to win in the playoffs. Does a first round bye earn an extension? What about a razor thin loss? I honestly don’t know.
September 8th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Well it seems we should experience better pass rush from the front 7 than we seen the past 4 years. So to think it will be a repeat defensive season does not make sense at this time. IMO
Cross your fingers Todd doesn’t lose us any game with HC decisions. ie. , not benching Baker when hurt.
September 8th, 2026 at 2:16 pm
Beeej… you got it. Poor DeBerg. I had the pleasure of seeing him toss 4 td’s in the first half of the opening game in 1987 against the Falcons. Finished with 5 td’s for the game in a 48-10 rout, but also the previous year , opening game of 86, witnessed him toss 7 picks, against his old 49’er coach. 7 pics, just remembering that makes we want to scrub my eyes out.